A plethora of anibloggers (including myself) are participating in the 12 Days of Christmas project, resulting in throngs of fun posts. One recent such post, by Rakuen at Borderline Hikikomori, mentions an important aspect of Christian spirituality, and one that’s important to think of this season.

In discussing a certain character in the game, Arc Rise Fantasia, Rakuen frames the post around the idea of expressing love through sacrifice. As he mentions, sacrifice is shown as a high (if not the highest) form of love in the Bible, as well as many other pieces of literature and other forms of media. This Christmas season, while the focus for most will be on family and gift-giving, I hope we’ll all remember that the holiday is a celebration of Jesus, who came to be a sacrificial lamb, dying in our place.